A 27-YEAR-OLD Chitungwiza man who allegedly raped his girlfriend has taken his case to the Constitutional Court (ConCourt) citing infringement of his rights by the lower court.
VIMBAI MARUFU
Zvondai Murehwa filed his ConCourt application at the Chitungwiza Regional court last Friday through his lawyer Charles Chikore, claiming that the matter was “fast-tracked” without remanding him in custody pending trial or furnishing him with State papers.
“This application is for referral of this matter to the highest court in the land, the Constitutional Court in terms of Section 175 (4) of the Constitution. The reason being that the rights of the accused (Murehwa) in terms of Section 70 (1) have been infringed.
“. . . The violation comes in the wake of how the accused person’s matter was handled by the State until it got to the stage where two witnesses were called to testify and indeed testified without State papers having been furnished to the accused person.”
Murehwa also claimed that he was not given adequate time to prepare his defence.
Circumstances surrounding the matter are that on December 7 this year at around 7pm, Murehwa visited his 27-year-old girlfriend at her place of residence in Unit M, Seke.
The accused person then told the complainant that they should go to his place of residence for his relatives wanted to meet her.
- Chamisa under fire over US$120K donation
- Mavhunga puts DeMbare into Chibuku quarterfinals
- Pension funds bet on Cabora Bassa oilfields
- Councils defy govt fire tender directive
Keep Reading
The two went to Murehwa’s house in Unit F, but when they arrived, there was no one at the residence.
Prosecutor Loveti Muringwa told the court that Murehwa then locked the door, dragged the complainant into his bedroom and raped her.
After the act, the court heard that the complainant cried and requested to be escorted back to her parents’ home where she immediately spilled the beans, leading to Murehwa’s arrest.
Presiding magistrate Estere Chivasa is expected to rule on the application tomorrow.
